Hospitality

"Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:13

This verse resonates in me on a daily basis. I can honestly say that I don't always act on it but after this past weekend of helping to prepare meals for the Pleasant Grove's tornado victims and volunteers,
the word hospitality takes on a new meaning to me. 

I was very blessed with the opportunity to go to Pleasant Grove, AL. I saw how a good warm meal comforted the victims and volunteers. One of the tornado relief workers my mom spoke to said that he has worked in other states for disaster relief, but wasn't always able to enjoy home-cooked meals and to sit down and relax and fellowship with others. This is "southern hospitality."
With donations from several people from my town and the local area including Mrs. Debra, The Winborns, Ms. Maggie Smith and family, Mrs. Linda Hawkins and other ladies in the Poplarville Woman's Club, teachers and staff at the Poplarville schools, teachers and staff at Pearl River Central, Grandpa Larry and Nancy, etc. we were able to provide supplies and prepare meals. Some of the dishes included smoked beef and vegetable stew, spaghetti and meatballs, Poplarville blueberry pancakes (Thank you Misty for picking the blueberries), tres leches cake, and peach cobbler.

One of the things that really touched me was that two college guys who live in Pleasant Grove came to help. One of the guys had lost his house in the tornado and he was still willing to serve.

Through this experience, I have learned that special touches go a long way. Home-baked cookies were really appreciated amongst the volunteers and workers.

After this experience, I was encouraged to show hospitality more to others. I found this plate at a dollar store and thought this would be a great way to spread hospitality.

I am issuing a Hospitality challenge to all of you. This is how it works. Do something for others; it can be both big or small. Invite someone to dinner at your house, invite someone to lunch after church, bring someone a baked good, prepare dinner for a friend and bring it to him or her, or do something else in which you can help someone in need. This doesn't just have to mean cooking and food. Cooking is my talent and this is the way I can show hospitality but you can mow someone's lawn, babysit, etc.

I have begun this challenge myself. I filled this plate with my pecan pralines and gave it to a secretary at my dad's work. She has always been really nice to give my family vegetables from her garden. What was neat was that I didn't know that earlier that day she had given my dad a bag of squash from her garden.  I received hospitality from her the same day I showed it to her.

The second plate I filled with my No Name Bars. They are like an ooey gooey bar. I went to my neighbor's house last night and took them to him. He told me he would bring me the plate back. I told him that's ok but to read the plate after he and his family had eaten the treats. After reading the message, hopefully he will fill the plate and forward hospitality to someone.

Share your stories of how you show hospitality on the comment section. Post pictures on my facebook page Whitney Miller-Masterchef. I would love to hear from you!

Vegetables in Training

While looking around Cracker Barrel's gift shop, I found this cute garden stake sign that said "Vegetables in Training." I thought how fitting this sign would be in my garden.  My dad and I have always wanted to have a big garden that overflowed with vegetables.  One year my dad used an antique manual tiller that we had to till up our soon-to-be garden spot. I came behind him and dropped an assortment of vegetable seeds.  My dad and I were exhausted but excited about what tastey vegetables would come from our hard work. Our dreams were soon washed away from a hard rain that washed some of our seeds away and the other seeds didn't produce but a few vegetable plants.
This year we decided to plant small vegetable plants instead of seeds.  My mom and I ventured to the garden store to purchase our garden's plants. I couldn't contain myself and began grabbing various plants including eggplant, red bell pepper, yellow squash, and zucchini. My eyes scanned the various tomato plants. I didn't know there were so many different kinds especially the hybrid tomatoes. I filled my shopping cart with yellow boy, heirloom, big boy, grape and cherry tomato plants.  I am not even a cucumber fan but a lemon cucumber plant peaked my interest. 

Since helping my mom and dad excavate, cover plants with dirt, and water them, I have been watching them grow every day. The progress is exciting!

Finally fruits of our labor!
Speaking of fruit, I also planted some strawberry plants.
Using my strawberries, I created a cupcake recipe. It is called a Balsamic Strawberry "Short" cupcake. In the summer I love making strawberry shortcake and so I created a cupcake version. The addition of a good quality thick balsamic gave a slight acidic, sweet and tart component to the dessert. While in New Orleans shopping on Magazine Street, I found a shop called Vom Fass. They sell a balsamic that is rich, thick, and sweet. It is called Aceto Balsamico di Modena "Maletti."  The great thing about Vom Fass is that you can sample their oak barrel stored olive oils and balsamics before you purchase them.
Without further ado my cupcake recipe:

Balsamic Strawberry “Short” Cupcakes

“Short” Cupcakes

1 stick butter – room temp

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ¼ cups cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

2 large eggs, separated (room temp)

¾ cup whole milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Balsamic Strawberries

3 cup sliced strawberries

3 Tbsp. good quality balsamic vinegar*

Whipped Cream

2 cups whipping cream

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

Balsamic vinegar (garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

In a mixing bowl, whisk butter until creamy consistency. Slowly add in sugar until incorporated.  Beat egg yolks one at a time in a small bowl and whisk into butter and sugar mixture.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

Alternately add dry ingredients and milk into butter mixture, being sure to start and end with the flour mixture. Whisk batter after each addition.  Lastly, add vanilla. Fold in beaten egg whites. Fill 20-25 cupcake liners a little more than half full. Do not over fill. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire baking rack.

In a bowl, toss strawberry slices with balsamic vinegar.

Using a hand mixer, beat whipping cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add confectioner’s sugar and beat until combined.

To assemble cupcakes, arrange strawberry slices onto cupcakes and top with whipped cream. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Yields: 20-25 cupcakes

Southern Food Revolution

I was inspired for the name of this post from a comment someone posted on my facebook of my Southern Chips. He said "Southern without it being fried. Someone is starting a food revolution." My Southern Chips are made from Mustard Greens which I toss in olive oil and salt and bake until cripsy.
His comment inspired me to post some of my Southern recipes that are on the healthier side.  I want to show others that Southern food doesn't have to mean using a pound of butter and deep frying.

I made kale chips for the first time this week. I tried them at Hundred Acres restaurant the last time I was in New York.  After making the kale chips, I decided that I could substitute mustard greens for kale. Mustard greens have a similar flavor to kale. My Southern Chips (Mustard Green Chips) are a healthier alternative to potato chips. This is a fun way to get your kids to eat their greens.

Southern Chips (Mustard Green Chips)

3 cups chopped mustard greens, washed & dried

1 Tbsp. olive oil

¼ tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl, toss mustard greens, olive oil, and salt.  Place onto a baking sheet.

Bake at 300 degrees for 16 minutes.

Let cool slightly and carefully remove from baking sheet.

Serve.

Brussel Sprouts, "little cabbages" as my mom likes to call them, is a vegetable that not very many people are a fan of. I can say I have converted many "finicky eaters" to brussel sprout fans. As I was in line one day to pay for my groceries, the lady behind me asked me what I was going to do with the brussel sprouts. I described to her how I was going to roast them in the oven. I toss brussel sprouts and onion slices in olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. I then roast them in the oven on 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The result is carmelized sweet brussel sprout goodness. Needless to say, she and the lady behind her got out of line to get some brussel sprouts.

So I have a new recipe using brussel sprouts. It is Sauteed Brussel Sprout, Leek, and Green Apple with Candied Pecans. The combination of ingredients is unique but works so well together. The flavors are slight bitterness from the sprouts, sweetness from the leek, apple, and candied pecans, and slight tartness from the apple. All the flavors and textures make for a great tasty dish.  So without further ado I present my brussel sprout dish......

Sautéed Brussel Sprouts, Leek, and Green Apple with Candied Pecans

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

About 10 large fresh brussel sprouts, sliced thin

1 leek, sliced thin

1/4 granny smith apple, halved and sliced thin

½ tsp. hickory smoked salt

Candied Pecans (recipe below)

Melt butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add sprouts, leek, and apple slices to skillet. Season with salt and cook for 8-10 minutes. Gently toss vegetables during cooking time to coat in butter and oil and prevent from cooking on only one side.

To finish, top with candied pecans and serve immediately.

Candied Pecans

2 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. cane sugar

¼ cup pecan halves, cut in half lengthwise

Over medium-low heat, bring water, sugar, and pecans to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue simmering for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sugar and water should turn into syrup. Using a fork, remove pecans onto wax paper to cool.

Did you know that brussel sprouts grow on a stalk?

Easter

What I love about holidays are that I have an excuse to bake a lot of sweets ha ha! I have a big sweet tooth. Easter is coming up soon. I am looking forward to Easter this year because last year I was filming Masterchef. I really missed spending Easter with my family.

My family's Easter lunch has always been spent at my great grandmother's house but the past few years my great Aunt has hosted the lunch. There is always a lot of good food and fun fellowship. I like to contribute delicious springtime desserts to my family's Easter lunch. This year I am planning on making cupcakes. What I love about cupcakes are that they are easy to decorate and transport.

Speaking of decorating my favorite "icings" are glazes and whipped cream. One of my new cupcake creations is Balsamic Strawberry "Short" Cupcake. It is a light flavorful vanilla cupcake topped with strawberry slices, tossed in sweet balsamic vinegar, and "iced" with homemade whipped cream. Not only do I like the top of my cupcakes to look impressive but I like to present my cupcakes in impressive liners. When it comes to liners, Sutton cupcake liners are my number one choice. They come in so many colors and patterns but the best part is that when you bake your cupcake in Sutton liners, the colors and pattern shows up. Every cupcake liners I've used will fade after baking. This is frustrating and disappointing after I pick out cute liners to use and then you can't even tell what the cute design looks like. Look at this cute design of Sutton's Scroll in turquoise & red.  I want my cupcakes to look their Sunday best no matter what day of the week I make them.

You can serve my Balsamic Strawberry "Short" Cupcake at your Easter lunch. When you order a sampler pack of Sutton's cupcake liners on my Open Sky account, you will receive my cupcake recipe.
http://shopopensky.com/whitneymiller/offer/cupcake-baking-cup-sampler-pack Click on the link to follow me and purchase now!

Food is a big part of my family's Easter lunch but fellowship is too. I have a large extended family. There are usually more than 30 people at our lunch. It is always so much fun and entertaining whether we are flying kites or cheering the kids on in their fun activities. One year my younger cousins did something called "Mutton Bustin" or sheep riding. This was the funniest thing I have ever seen! ha ha!

Fun times are always found at my family's Easter. I am really looking forward to spending Easter this year with my family.
The most important thing to me is my Faith and family. Easter is a time to remember what Christ did for us on the cross and then rose on the third day. Thank you Lord for loving me enough to die on the cross to save me from my sins.

Traveling Palate

I have been so blessed with all of my travels lately. In the month of March, I went from California to Chicago and then to New York. One of my favorite things about traveling is the opportunity to experience food from the different cities.

I was in Chicago for the 2011 International Home + Housewares Show. I was honored to have been asked to do a cooking demo on the main stage.

http://www.encodi.com/quickview.jsp?fileId=969f47f43b0c1b5176b60337c85c5fd8
Click on the link above to view my demo!

Other chefs doing cooking demos were Rick Bayless (Top Chef Masters), Paula Deen, Michael Symon (Iron Chef), Cat Cora (Iron Chef), Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), and Curtis Stone (Top Chef host, America's Next Great Restaurant). I was very star struck at meeting Guy Fieri and Curtis Stone. I was among many women waiting in line to get my cookbook signed my Curtis. He is so CUTE!
I was even able to go to Curtis's premiere party for his America's Next Great Restaurant show.

So back to restaurants I visited in Chicago. Graham Elliott (one of the Masterchef judges) set my family and I up to a 19 course meal at his restaurant. I enjoyed the Caesar salad- gem lettuce+ brioche twinkie + white anchovy and "lobster" atlantic monkfish + cheddar hushpuppy + slaw vinaigrette.

Chicago pizza oh my! How I now love Chicago style deep dish pizza. I ate at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria. My favorite pizza was the "Malnati Chicago Classic". The crust was crisp and crunchy, tomato sauce was so fresh and flavorful, and the sausage was surprisingly, to me, good. I am usually not a sausage fan but I could tell their sausage was homemade and it was good.

Art Smith's restaurant Table Fifty-Two was really good. It was a comforting Southern style meal that reminded me of home. I felt like a celebrity in which the table we sat. I was told Lady Gaga and President Obama had sat at the table we were seated. His fried chicken was delish! I tried the side of three cheese mac which was served piping hot out of the wood-fired oven.
Now on to dessert, my favorite part of the meal which I always save room for ha ha!
We were treated with real Southern Hospitality. We were given a taste of every dessert on the menu. They were as follows Art's Hummingbird cake (huge slice, really good), Southern Pecan Pie (loved it & I'm not a pecan pie fan), 12 Layer Chocolate Cake (my dad's favorite), and Bananas, Bourbon & Bacon (very unique).
Thanks Chef Art for a wonderful meal!

One suggestion for Chicago travelers, go in the summer! I know I will be making another trip.

Well I have ran out of time and room to include all the wonderful restaurants I ate at in New York so this blog post is to be continued......

Spring is in the Air

Mississippi has been having some great weather lately. I have been enjoying every minute of it,
whether it is setting up a table and enjoying my lunch outside or planting a potted herb and vegetable garden. This year I am trying to turn my brown thumb into a green one ha ha! I decided to plant my vegetable and herb plants in pots. I like to be able to move the plants around my yard if I need to. Our backyard has spots that are sunnier than others.
One garden fresh vegetable I love is tomatoes. I have planted red and yellow tomatoes and cherry tomatoes as well. In the summer a fresh tomato sandwich with a little mayo, salt, and pepper is simple but so delicious. I also love a good BLT. 
In the South, a vegetable that is easy to grow is squash. Squash also grows bountifully. I am always trying to come up with recipes using squash. My grandmother gave me her recipe for squash pickles. I had not heard of anything like it. I decided I would take her recipe and make it my own. I use cane sugar which is better for you than granulated sugar because it is unrefined meaning it contains essential nutrients and minerals.
You will love my recipe for squash pickles and want to make and serve it all spring and summer long.

Squash Pickles

About 4 cups sliced small yellow squash

1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
salt
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cane sugar
¼ tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Layer squash and onion slices on a baking sheet. Sprinkle salt over vegetables and let stand for 1 hour. Place vegetables in a colander. Lightly rinse and drain.  Then place vegetables onto a layer of paper towels. Pat dry.

In a medium saucepot over medium heat, add vinegar and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add seasoning. Add squash and onions.

Bring vinegar to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool on counter for 1 hour.

Spoon into mason jars and refrigerate.

Serve squash pickles with your favorite sandwich.

Agave Marshmallow Treats

Growing up, hot chocolate meant Grandma mixing cocoa powder, sugar, and milk in a large pot on the stove. Today, my family still enjoys a cup of hot chocolate as a "comfort" drink in the wintertime.
Especially after coming in late at night after a ballgame, we loved a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top. It seemed to warm from the inside out.
However, over the years, the method of making it changed. It became easy to tear open a package and heat a cup of water.
                                                                                                                  
Since my dad has been ill, more than ever, I want to make sure he does not miss out on the comfort foods and treats like hot chocolate and marshmallows so I decided to make them using real chocolate (semi-sweet or dark chocolate) bars and a combinations of milks. I used natural sugars, agave and Stevia, to sweeten the marshmallows.

HOT CHOCOLATE

3 oz. quality semi-sweet chocolate

¼ cup turbinado sugar

Pinch of salt

¼ cup of boiling water

1 1/4 cup skim milk

1 cup whole milk

¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine the chocolate, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Stir in the water until chocolate and sugar melts. Bring this mixture to a slight boil, stirring occasionally.  Stir in both milks and heat until hot. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve with marshmallows.

Homemade Marshmallows

1  Tbsp. cornstarch

½ cup cold water

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

¼ tsp. powered stevia extract

¾ cup light agave

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Spray with a non-stick cooking spray, the bottom of a 12x9x2-inch pan.

Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle cornstarch onto the bottom of the pan

In a medium saucepan, combine cold water and gelatin, mix until dissolved. Add stevia, agave, and salt. Mix well, then heat to almost a boil.

Pour the warm syrup into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high speed until mixture has doubled in volume and forms stiff peaks, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine, a few seconds.

Scrape marshmallow cream into the prepared pan and spread with a damp rubber spatula.  Let stand uncovered for 3 or more hours.

To make cubes, dip knife in hot water and cut marshmallow into 1-inch cubes.

Take the agave marshmallow recipe and make gluten-free rice krispy treats with gluten-free brown rice krispies. Enjoy!